The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-05-25
LIFE SAVING.
The New Government Station at the
TWO Lights.
How the Crew Is Selected and What
They Do.

Through the storms and gales of next
winter sharp watch will be kept In the ylcln-
ity of the Two Lights for signals OF distress
from any vessel which may be driven on to
the rocks there. The new life saving sta
tion will be completed by June 30th and oc-
cupied September 1st by captain and seven
men. The building is story and half
house. 2Ix46 feet. The lower floor contains
the boat mess and cook rooms, and above is
the sleeping room for the crew. The house
is of wood, of pretty design, and when nm
ished will have cost the government $4,000.
The eight men who from the first oil Sep
TENDER to the list of May will live In the
house ready for the arduous duty OF afford
ing relief to shipwrecked sailors, will be
selected from among the fishermen living
near the station. they must be men with
stout hearts and bodies Injured to the hard
ships of an outdoor life in the midst of the
storms of Maine winter and the perils OF
the ocean. The captain, who receives sal
airy of 800 and lives the year round at the
station, is selected by Captain Richardson,
superintendent of the life saving stations In
this district, but receives his appointment
direct from the Treasury Department at
Washington. The captain of the crew will
select the seven men constituting his force.
These men engage for the year. From the
1st of September to the 1st of May they
live in the station and are each paid $50 a
month. During the summer months the
men are at liberty to engage in fishing, farm
Ing or other pursuits, living at their homes
If they are summoned for duty they receive
So for each case where work is required Of
them. All the members of the crew must be
examined as to their physical ability for
their hard and dangerous labor by the sur
geon at the Marine Hospital. The govern
ment furnishes the men with quarters in the
life saving house and provides fuel but the
crew board and clothe themselves.
When the season begins and the men take
up their residence in the station, routine
commences which is constantly kept up until
the next summer. The coast in the vicinity
Of the house is continually patrolled, the dis
tance over which the lookout makes his way
being governed by the nature of the location
and varying from half mile to four miles.
| Captain Richardson has not yet determined
| the distance to be covered by the patrOlmen
| of the Cape station, but in all kinds of
weather they will be on duty next winter,
keeping as close to the shore as possible and
carrying with them rockets and Causton
lights with which to send signals of hope to
the sailors whose vessel may have been
wrecked AT the end of the patrols beat is
post to which is chained a key. This key
fits one of Imhauser's time detectors carried
by the patrolman, and as the key enters the
detector the hour and minute of the patrols
| arrival at the post is recorded upon the dial.
Each patrolman is required to go over his
beat as many times as he can in his four
| hours watch, and he must be careful to take
the path nearest the shore. To be found
under the shelter of bank means prompt
| dismissal from the service.
In the boat room at the house will be
| a surf boat and the carriage on which it is
drawn to the points where its services may
be needed, gun for throwing shot with life
lines attached across the decks of wrecks
near the shore, and hand cart for convey
ing the smaller apparatus The surf boat
| will be sharp at both ends, 81 feet long 81
feet beam and q feet in depth 1t is pro-
vided with air chambers beneath the seats
and at each end. The projectile thrown by
the gun, and to which the line is attached,
| weighs ia pounds.
| The work of the station is not confined to
the region patrolled by the crew. If there is
a chance of rendering service, the apparatus
may be taken to points ten and twelve miles
| from the station, or even greater distance
| The life-saving crews work, also, in connec-
| tionwith the revenue cutters, and each calls
| upon the other for assistance in their work
| With eight of the men who have learned to
manage the fishing boats of the New Eng
land coast constantly ready to render assist
ance in case of need and provided with the
necessary apparatus, there will he little dam
| ger of repetition of the experience of the
three men ON the schooner Australia, which
was wrecked within a stones throw of the
new station three winters ago. 1t will be
remembered that after the men had spent a
night clinging to the rigging, with the sea
breaking over them, one, the captain, fell
into the water and drowned, while the other
keeper of the Two Lights. In the first light
house district there are now eight life-saving
stations, and the two now building at Cape
Elizabeth and Portsmouth will make ten BY
the time the next season opens.